Tacos Rojas started 14 years ago when Octavio Rojas moved to the United States from Pueblo, Mexico,…read moreand opened the first Tacos Rojas location on 13th Street SW in Roanoke's Mountain View neighborhood. That first location opened around 2012 inside a small, unasuming space that was formally a convenience store. Octavio runs the business with close family members, including his wife, daughters, brother, nephews, and nieces. The business has grown from that single neighborhood spot into a regional favorite with multiple locations across the Roanoke Valley, including restaurants in Salem, Vinton, Keagy Village in Cave Spring Roanoke, Hollins in North Roanoke, and the Roanoke City Market Building. The restaurants are known for homemade, traditional Mexican dishes like street tacos, birria, large burritos, and fresh salsas. And have gain great popularity for combining a casual, welcoming atmosphere with scratch-made food. Today I happened to be in Salem to do some errands and try out the Tropical Sno Hawaiian Shaved Ice, which happened to be located in this restaurant's parking lot. Since it was around lunchtime and the Shaved ice place didn't open until 12 noon, I decided to visit Tacos Rojas and have lunch there. The restaurant was very clean inside and decorated with paintings that I later found out were of family members. It had a nice size main dining room and another spacious one that could be set-up to accommodate larger groups. A young lady greeted and welcomed me at the Host's station and took me to one of the booths. I ordered a Virgin Mango Margarita to drink, and by the time she came back with some freshly made chips and salsa, I was ready to order. I ordered the Lunch Special of the Day which was a California Burrito with Beef. While I waited I enjoyed their amazing salsa with the chips. The Mango Margarita was also delicious with the prefect flavor and consistency to comfortably flow up the straw. The California Burrito was gigantic in size and very good. It filled me up but I still had space for a flan for dessert. Made in-house the Flan tasted amazingly delicious. I invite you to view my photographs and videos accompanying this review to get a better sense of the place and the high-quality of their food and drinks. The restaurant also had a stage setup and I was told it was mainly used for group parties and special occasions. In conclusion, I enjoyed my lunch dining experience there and look forward to returning another day for dinner to try out one of their other larger dinner items on their menu.

Excellent food in a great atmosphere. Service was wonderful and our needs were attended to with…read morecareful attention to detail. Highly recommended!

Top notch hotdogs, great prices, awesome owner and gives his tips to the SPCA...love this hotdog…read morestand!

Not to sound cheesy, but Home Run Hot Dogs is a home run! I have mentioned in previous reviews that…read moreI am a big fan of supporting local businesses, and money spent at this gem of a hotdog cart is an excellent way to feed money into the local economy. The owner/chef Robert Evans can be found most Saturdays and Sundays serving up his delicious hotdogs outside the Roanoke, VA Best Buy. Robert uses all-beef hotdogs and steams the buns as they should be. He has all the toppings including chili, Bertman Ball Park Mustard, onions, jalapeños, cheddar, and much more. The hotdogs alone are worth a visit to this food cart, but the prices are the icing on the cake. A double combo features two hotdogs, chips, and a drink for the low price of $6. What adds to this great business is Robert's enthusiasm. He is super friendly and loves to talk with his customers while preparing their food. He's an avid baseball fan and enjoys discussing the great American pastime with his patrons. Take my word for it, Robert's Home Run Hot Dogs cart is a fun time any weekend it's open.

Quick Bite Grill is a family-owned and operated small halal restaurant owned by Huthayfa Abuzaid…read more It is located off Williamson Road in the Lamp Lighter Mall, and is open for breakfast, lunch, and early dinner. As soon as I heard this place had opened, I went down there to try it out. The strip mall where it's located is also home of the very popular Ike's Kitchen, Authentic Japanese Cuisine and It's Pho Time! Vietnamese Cuisine. Today, when I arrived the owner gave me a warm greeting. The place is small with only three, tables for two, but very clean, warm, and with a welcoming environment. An enlarged menu is posted on the wall and includes many classic American comfort foods such as Beef Burgers, Chicken Burgers, Hot Dogs, Wings, Chicken Strips, and Loaded fries, along with some Arab-inspired dishes such like Beef and Chiken Shawarma in wrap, plate, or salad. In the future, the owner and chef plans to introduce other Arabic and Middle Eastern dishes such as Falafel, Hummus, Kebab & Shish Tawook, and others. I ordered a Beef Shawarma Platter for my main meal and two small Pistachio Baklavas for dessert. The platter came with beef, white rice, fries, jalapeño and banana peppers, two tiny pickles, and a white sauce. The meat tasted delicious. It was high-quality beef, left marinated for some time and then grilled and served hot. The Pistachio Baklavas were one of the best I've ever had. They are imported from another source who specializes in Middle Eastern desserts. After I finished eating, I paid with one of my credit cards using Google Pay. Although the owner expects most of his orders to be for take-out or delivery, there are always some customers that prefer staying in and dining there. While I was there one gentleman came to dine in as well as two lady friends. As I was leaving, another customer arrived to place a take-out order. They also are open for breakfast at seven during the week and at nine during Saturdays. Their Breakfast menu includes various breakfast sandwiches made-to-order with a bagel, white bread, or a biscuit, and containing different meats with egg and cheese. The also have freshly made hash browns and freshly brewed coffee. I highly recommend this small restaurant and urge you to give this young gentleman with an entrepreneurial spirit, your total support.

What attracted my attention to this hot dog moving establishment was its unique hand built gypsy…read morewagon. The owner built it with his two hands and also used his artistic talent to decorate it with lively wooden carvings and paintings, as well as a movable wooden woodpecker. Shawn White sells Nathan's All Beef Hot Dogs, Quarter Pound Dogs, Kiolbassa Traditional Sausage, and Kiolbassa Beef Sausage sandwiches/combos, all at reasonable prices. Since 2018 Shawn has stationed his hot dog trailer in Roanoke and Franklin Counties, at places such as Carilion Hospital, Salem Walmart, Ace Hardware on Brambleton, and others, as well as to private booking events. To find out where he'll be or to book an event, you can call him at (540) 520-2622, email him at dogontimehotdogs@gmail.com or checkout his Facebook page Dog'on Time Food Stand to find his daily location. The other day, as soon as I discovered his contact information, I emailed him to find out where he would be on Wednesday, and he emailed me back writing that he would be at the parking lot of the Cherry Bomb Tattoo parlor in Vinton, Virginia, from 11 until 4. This is located in the same Building as Vinton Computers in Vinton, Virginia. And surely it was worth the trip. For just the trailer itself was a delightful thing worth seeing and admiring, a work of art; very colorful and with many wooden artworks that gave it lots of character. Shawn greeted me behind the small window of the trailer and chatted with me on how he started his business years ago and about his products. There were also posted menus and a price list of all the items being sold there. I had a My Way hot dog. Shawn prepared it for me and wrapped it in an aluminum foil in such a way that my hands remained clean as I was eating the hot dog. It had a Touch of Hot Sauce, Squeeze Cheese, Barbeque Sauce, Mustard, Chili, Onions, and Sweet Relish. It was like an orchestra of flavors playing harmoniously and creating a culinary masterpiece of a flavor. I invite you to view my photographs accompanying this review to get a better sense of the place and high-quality of the hot dog. Another customer arrived after I had finished eating and I thanked Shawn for such an amazing tasting hot dog and I took off in my pearl white Lexus to allow other customers to park in this small parking lot. I highly recommend that you find out where he'll be and go try his amazing hot dogs out. Also you can book him for an event. Shawn deserves the total support of our community.

Best damn hot dog you'll ever get! Check out his Facebook page to find his daily location. Ask for…read morethem "my way" as it's the only way!

My friend and I visited Burger In The Square on 9/3/2026. The food was delicious as well as my BIG…read moremilkshake! To me, the most outstanding rememberence was Server "K.D.". From the moment he introduced himself to the moment we said "goodbye", K.D. was very sociable, efficient, kind, and funny! My friend and I both agree K.D. is a special man and a genuine pleasure to talk with. K.D., please keep up your outstanding positive attitude - it truly means a lot and we hope to be seated in your section next time!!

Today, we visited Burger in the Square and arrived just in time to beat the rush. Our waitress,…read moreAlyssa, provided some of the best service we've experienced in a long time. Our drinks were perfect and served promptly. My wife ordered the Mushroom Burger, and I went with the Texas Chili Burger. I was absolutely famished, so I strategically took my burger apart and ate it in stages; it was simply too large to eat normally! The onion rings were excellent, offering a great crunch and fantastic flavor. My wife couldn't even finish her meal because the portion was so generous. The restaurant was clean, the tables were spotless, and the atmosphere was quiet enough for us to plan our next few days without distraction.

Sometimes in the least expected of places one can find the tastiest of foods and the friendliest of…read morepeople. This is the case with Cafe Express, in Salem, Virginia. Located in a standalone building next to a 7-Eleven/Gas Station at 206 Apperson Drive, Cafe Express is a small, family-owned and operated New York Style Deli, run by a husband-and-wife team who immigrated from Nepal years ago and for 18 years have worked hard to make this small, unasuming deli, one of Salem's most precious culinary hidden gems. At first I didn't think nothing of it. Its storefront and location are not that impressive, but after driving by it many times, one day I just had to stop and try it out. From the very beginning, after parking in a space right in front of the deli, I was very impressed by its cleanliness. Its front windows and glass door were so clean and shiny that they were like mirrors reflecting their surroundings which in part was the gas station. But don't be fooled by this. In the past I've discovered exceptional eateries located at gas stations small strip malls. Once inside, I was fascinated by what I saw. There were three beautiful wooden relief carvings on the walls, framed magazine articles of the deli and its owners, framed Award Certificates including one from Yelp, a Buddha artwork on a plate, and a beautiful oil painting, painted by none other than by the owner himself. Both Prakash Malakar and his wife Sarojani gave me a warm welcome and made me feel at home. Eager to learn about their place of origin and culture I ask them about this.The owner explained how they came from Nepal, which is located in between China and India. Afterwards, his wife showed me the menu and the Specials written in colorful chalks over a chalkboard. I was attracted to their "Pastrami Royale and after she explained what items it had, I went ahead and ordered it along with some fries and a fountain softdrink. Not exaggerating, it was one of the most delicious sandwiches that I've ever had. I invite you to view my photographs accompanying this review to get a better sense of the place and its amazing high-quality food. For dessert I had a small bowl of their homemade rice pudding. After I finished eating I paid with one of my credit cards via my Google Pay which they accepted and left them a nice tip. In conclusion, I highly recommend this place for its warm and comfortable ambiance, great menu, exquisite food, and remarkable customer service by a kind and friendly couple.

Dropping our son to college. Somehow saw Yelps Top 100 sandwich places in the USA. Just a short…read moredrive from Virginia Tech in Salem. Located in beside a gas station. Going in we asked the locals what to get- everything. That didn't help with great selection of sandwiches and wraps. The place has some hand carvings on the wall- Nepalese. The owner is very pleasant and helpful. We chatted a bit after we got our sandwiches to go. We got three sandwiches- the Brooklyn, the Manhattan, and Chicken tandoori. All sandwiches were amazing. But the chicken tandoori stood out the most- amazing flavors!!! Highly recommend it. We also got some fries. They also sell cookies and some Punjabi snacks. Definitely will hit this place again when we come visit.

We came here on a Tuesday 2pm and as expected, it was not busy at all. Counter service type of…read morerestaurant to place order at the counter and they bring out the food. We got Half Pork (subbed beef) & Half Beef with green beans to share. They were kind enough to bring out in two separate plates! Also gave us hush puppies for free! Beef brisket was very tender and full of smoked flavor. There were five sauces to try but personally think the brown sauce was the best. The brisket portion was huge, well maybe we subbed brisket and got one whole beef, but we were full with sharing the platter. Great BBQ spot in town!

Staying overnight in town and I thought I'd give this place a try. I ordered on Uber eats…read more The beef brisket is literally half inedible fat with no flavor in the meat whatsoever until you drench it in barbecue sauce. The smoked taters are just smoky flavored cut up potatoes. They are super bland as well. There wasn't enough salt and pepper in the to go box to make it taste any better. They were completely out of all their desserts, even though it was only 3:45 in the afternoon. Probably dodged a bullet on the desserts as well.

I've been waiting and looking for that all-American BBQ experience, and while this is a food truck…read moreand what I got wasn't exactly a tray of juicy ribs and slaw I've been dreaming of, the pulled pork on the pork BBQ sandwich was simply the best I've ever had. I took my chances on this modest-looking food truck on my first visit to New Castle. A full disclosure - I'm a huge Subway fan so I made a beeline as I was torn between the two options, but the incredibly slow service at Subway gave me time to change my mind and boy am I glad for it! There was apparently only one person running it, so everything was prepared to order which meant patience. When I finally got my turn and put my order in, the person asked me to choose from 4 BBQ sauces: SC style, his own "spicy" BBQ, sweet, and classic. I went with the sweet BBQ sauce, with slaw (duh!). Slaw was a chunky cut, and bun was your standard burger bun, but what really made it was the exceptionally tender and juicy pulled pork. I came here on a recommendation and it sounds like he's parked here frequently, so maybe I'll ask about hours next time. Thanks for the great feed!

Buford BBQ has the best ribs I've ever tasted. The spicy baked beans are delicious. His food is…read moreoutstanding. Not just the tasty ribs but his barbecue and his chicken are super good!